Senior Chinese military official in Singapore for visit

Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army, was leading a Chinese delegation of military and defense officials on a three- day visit to Singapore.

Ma met with Teo Chee Hean, deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs, at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday. Teo is also the coordinating minister for national security.

Teo said that the cooperation between Singapore and China has been fruitful in various fields in the more than 20 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990. The bilateral relations have been progressing fast, with frequent high-level visits in both directions.

Teo said that the development of China is positive for the development of the region and even the world, and that Singapore is happy to see China is involved in international and regional security cooperation and contributing to the peace, security and development of the region.

Ma said the cooperation between China and Singapore has yielded fruits covering nearly all the fields. The defense cooperation is also gradually deepening.

The friendly cooperation between China and Singapore is a result of strategic choices made by the countries in line with the trend of the era. China is willing to work together with Singapore to further push forward the bilateral relations between the armed forces of the two countries, Ma said.

Ma also met with Chan Chun Sing, Singapore's acting minister for community development, youth and sports and senior minister of state for defense, on Tuesday afternoon.

Chan said Singapore attaches great importance to developing its relations with China and hopes for both sides to further strengthen the pragmatic cooperation and expand the scope of the bilateral exchanges with joint efforts, especially the interaction and exchanges between the youths and young military officers of the two countries.

Ma said the relations between the defense and military establishments of the two countries have been progressing smoothly. The pragmatic cooperation is deepening and the coordination is better.

In the context of the complex and volatile regional security situation, the Chinese military is willing to boost the communication and cooperation with their Singapore counterpart so as to contribute to the overall development of the bilateral ties, Ma said.

Ma arrived in Singapore on Monday, leading a delegation of military and defense officials on a three-day visit.